Have you been tasked with planning a baby shower?

If you’re sweating it, don’t—if you can get people to show up, you’ve already won half the battle, because the most important thing to have at a baby shower are guests! Either lots of them or just a few close friends and family, as long as they want nothing more than to wish the beaming mother-to-be all the best for her and her newborn, you’ll be in good shape.

Remember, a baby shower isn’t just about gifts, it’s about making memories

Seriously—that’s the most important thing to have at a baby shower.

And for everything else? Well, we’ve got you covered. In today’s post we’ll go over the other really important things you need to prepare and put on a baby shower that’s sure to be a big hit with the woman of the hour as well as all her guests.

In today’s post, we’re going to discuss…

• How to get prepared, not only to make the baby shower as enjoyable as possible, but to make sure the mother-to-be feels comfortable, respected, and has a great time.

• The one appetizer you can never go wrong with!

• A different take on party favors and how to impress your guests.

• The simple-yet-thoughtful gift you can give the baby shower recipient that will make her positively glow with happiness.

So, with all that goodness in mind, let’s get started at the beginning: how to prepare. And, as you’ll see, there’s a lot more to it than just sending out invitations...

Getting Prepared: Invitations and Setting a Time Limit

Sending invitations is the easy part of getting prepared. Make sure you send them out at least a couple of weeks in advance and ask people to RSVP so that you know how many people will show up, which will help in preparing food and party favors (more on those topics in a minute).

So, fairly standard stuff, right?

Here’s an important piece of advice you might not have heard before: consider setting a time limit on the shower. If you say that it starts at 2 in the afternoon, place a firm ending time as well, so that people will know when they need to start leaving—usually about three to four hours is plenty of time for a baby shower, though it’s something you should discuss with the mother-to-be.

If you’ve ever had children, you’re probably nodding your head right now. When you’re pregnant, sometimes the last thing you want to do is be social for an extended period of time. Placing a polite but firm time limit on the shower will provide a certain sense of relief for the mother-to-be.

Room for Rules at a Baby Shower? Yes – Definitely, and Here’s Why

And now, on to the last (but no less crucial) part of your preparations… laying the ground rules. While “rules” plus “party” generally don’t equal “fun” in most of our minds, remember that this isn’t just any part—it’s a baby shower, with a pregnant and potentially (and understandably) stressed out woman who, above all else, should be respected.

The goal here is really just to minimize negativity. For example, a good rule would be to ask guests not to smoke while at the baby shower. But what if you have a couple of ladies in your circle of friends who just looove to tell anyone who’s going to listen about how painful giving birth was for them… and perhaps that’s not the kind of thing that should be discussed at the baby shower.

The rules you set are up to you and the mother-to-be, but whatever you do, don’t feel bad at all for implementing them. This is a day about her and her baby, not scaring the bejeezus out of her.

Serve Pastries. There, I Said it! (Plus Other Appetizer Tips)

Stop worrying about what to serve at the shower and just do what you already know is the right thing.

Serve baked goods. Preferably the kind slathered in frosting.

You can keep on hand some healthy alternatives if you must, but generally speaking you’re not going to go wrong by serving light refreshments along with a healthy dose of cupcakes. Give them the perfect look with a set of our Confetti Couture cupcake wrappers.

As you can see, there’s plenty to choose from, but these ones are just about the cutest for a baby shower.

This is The Key to Giving Out GOOD Party Favors Your Guests Will Love

Let’s be honest… party favors are usually pretty disposable and, frankly, boring. So why not give out a few things that the guests will actually be able to use?

A cute idea is to give out small bathroom accessory sets, including shower gels or scented soaps. Get it? Because it’s a baby shower?

Other fun ideas for small party favors include lip gloss, nail polish, skin care products like shea butter, candles, and so on. Make sure to put all of these goodies in one of our Confetti Couture party favor boxes. Having said all that, do you remember how at the beginning of this post you were promised an idea for a wonderfully thoughtful gift to give the mother-to-be?

Here it is: one of the party favors you give out could be small, disposable cameras. Just like at a wedding, invite the guests to take pictures with the camera during the shower.

After the festivities are over, get the pictures developed and place them into a photo album for the mother-to-be. Make sure to leave extra pages for when her baby enters the world—when her child is all grown up, they’ll see that so many people were thinking about them before they even got here.

And that’s important, because after all, you’re not just putting on a baby shower for your beloved friend or family member—you’re making memories.

Get out there and make some good ones!